10 Latinas Who Kick Ass!

We live for badass Latinas – especially those who display fearlessness on the big screen. Whether they’re fighting against a dictator’s regime or chasing off bad guys with heavy machine guns, these women face danger head on without a second thought.

We’re kicking off this weekend by highlighting Latinas who kick ass in films. Click through and tell us which star you think is the most hard-core:

The Puerto Rican/Dominican actress is amazing at playing a badass. We’ve seen her play the tough, highly skilled street racer/mechanic in The Fast and the Furious series (who we thought was killed, but turns out she hadn’t died at all). The 35-year-old will also appear in Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming Machete Kills film. Her rough and tough presence behind the big screen earned her a spot on Entertainment Weekly’s recent “Women Who Kick Ass” panel at Comic-Con, during which Rodriguez said she never dreamed she’d one day become a true action hero (like the other actresses on the panel). At one point, Rodriguez dreamed of becoming a boxer.

Zoe Saldaña (Colombiana)

The stunning Puerto Rican/Dominican actress blew us away as an accomplished assassin named Cataleya Restrepo in 2011’s Colombiana. Directed by Olivier Megaton, the film centers on a fearless woman who seeks to avenge the death of her parents. The film’s tagline is “Vengeance is Beautiful” – and so was Saldaña’s performance in it.

Sofia Vergara (Machete Kills)

We know the Colombian actress for her overbearing, hilarious role as mami Gloria Pritchett fromModern Family, but she’s also fully capable of playing a badass with lethal weapons. Case in point: Vergara’s new role as the machine gun bra-wearingDesdemona in Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming Machete Kills.

Natalie Martinez (Under The Dome)

The Cuban American actress stars as Linda, a small-town cop in CBS’ new drama Under The Dome. The show, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, follows the residents of the small town of Chester’s Mill, who find themselves suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by a mysterious barrier. In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Martinez talked about how badass her character is. “You're going to start to see her become this independent, strong woman who goes into the belly of the beast and faces this problem head on, from the teachings that she had from her sheriff [named Duke],” the actress said. “She's very strong-willed and a very determined and focused person.”

Genesis Rodriguez (Man on a Ledge)

The Venezuelan/Cuban actress (and daughter of adored Venezuelan singer/actor “El Puma”) played Angie in 2012’s action thriller Man on a Ledge, the girlfriend of the brother of an accused but innocent man. Rodriguez’s character’s job was to help break into a jewelry vault to prove her brother-in-law’s innocence. The stunning actress displayed skill and fearlessness while shooting down an elevator shaft, and an affinity for not-giving-a-damn through her multiple curse words in Spanish.

Salma Hayek (Savages)

The Mexican actress plays Elena Sánchez, a ruthless leader of a Mexican drug cartel in 2012’s crime thriller Savages, helmed by the one and only Oliver Stone. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hayek said she based her fearless character on people she personally knew. "There was somebody that I got to be friends with who was a very, very, very strong, very powerful woman in Mexico. She has passed away now,” the actress told the website.

Jennifer Lopez (Parker)

The Boricua multi-hyphenate has kicked ass before in films (remember 2002’s Enough?), but we really liked her in Taylor Hackford’s Parker film. In it, Lopez plays Leslie, a depressed, unsuccessful real-estate agent whose life course changes after she embarks on an intense journey to help the film’s protagonist (played by Jason Statham) steal what his former crew robbed in a jewelry auction heist.

Jessica Alba (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World)

In the 2011 family-oriented film, the Mexican American actress plays the mother of all bad-asses – literally. Alba plays Marissa Cortez Wilson, a former spy who’s married to spy-hunting TV reporter (Joel McHale) and is a new mother to both their infant daughter and two stepchildren. She thought she left her career behind her, but life happens, and Alba’s character is called back into action. And so the ass-kicking begins.

Alexa Vega (Spy Kids)

The actress of part-Colombian descent may be our youngest Latina who has kicked ass on the big screen. When she was younger, Vega captivated families for her role as Carmen Cortez in the beloved Spy Kids film series. She becomes an experienced hacker in the film’s third installment, on a quest to shut down an evil video game that enslaves its users.

Salma Hayek (In The Time of the Butterflies)

In 2001’s In The Time of the Butterflies, the Mexican actress plays Minerva Mirabal, one of three sisters who opposed the regime of the late Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, and were late assassinated on Nov. 25, 1960. Hayek’s character showed fearlessness during a time in the Dominican Republic where there was much to fear for. The Mirabal sisters are known as national heroes in the country.

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